


Bravery

by Writerwithagoal



Series: A Quiet Future Series [1]
Category: The Magicians (TV), The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Genre: Counseling, Fluff, Future Fic, Kissing, M/M, Talking About Trauma, Therapy, feeling conversations, flufff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-14 13:59:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18477670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writerwithagoal/pseuds/Writerwithagoal
Summary: Three years in to the future. Magic is back Library is gone. Monsters are a painful memory. Quentin runs a book repair shop in the upper east side for powerful magicians and rare bookshop. Eliot owns a super exclusive bar in Chelsea called Elysium. Both are in therapy for their ptsd and other issues. One day Eliot trusts that he's brave enough to talk to Q about feelings...and maybe getting a second chance.





	Bravery

**Author's Note:**

> Basically this fandom needs more fluff right now. I'm anxious about the finale on Wednesday so have this and enjoy.

“Eliot?” Q looked up dumbly at his friend, and--well they hadn’t defined being anything else. They’d gotten back from Fillory and then the monster. Welp now three years later here they were. Eliot Waugh the well attuned, fashionable, and flamboyant club owner of Elysium in Chelsea. Quentin Coldwater,was for his credit was running a rather profitable book repair shop. 

Looking up from where he was focusing on repairing the binding of a 12th century spell book, he stilled his fingers. Eliot was always welcome by but he generally only stopped by when he was bored, hungry, or stressed about a date. Which confused Quentin to no ends, maybe it was because Penny, Kady, Julia, also congregated at his apartment/shop. 

Except this was not his normal behavior. Firstly it was ten past noon, on a Tuesday,and Eliot was holding out a paper mug with a vaguely recognizable logo from one of the local coffee houses around his shop.

“I brought you coffee and Todd down at the counter said you were working on a particularly hard project,” Eliot said, his arm growing tired from holding his arm out for Quentin to take the offered cup. 

“I see that you brought me coffee, I wasn’t sure you knew my order,” Quentin joked, finally taking the mug smelling it before it touched his lips. It was perfect just how he preferred it. Not too bitter, not too sweet and had a hint of vanilla to it. 

“Of course I do...” Eliot trailed off, sipping his extra foam amaretto with a dash of vanilla latte and taking the seat next to Q at his workstation. “So we need to talk Coldwater.”

Quentin set his coffee down looking at his friend confused. “Aren’t we doing that?”

“I’m being serious, I need to talk to you.”

“I get that Eliot, I’m just not sure what I did, or you did that caused you to preemptively bring me coffee as a peace offering for this conversation.”

“Well I just-it’s been a minute since we did a feelings talk, and I’m not the bravest person you know. So this felt like a nice way to ease into it. Also that coffee shop is so cheap for being in the Upper East Side.”

“Eliot, you don’t need my permission to date other people. We aren’t together, haven’t really ever been--” Quentin blinked as Eliot clamped his hand over his mouth. 

“Q if you finish that statement I’m not going to be responsible for my actions.” 

Quentin blinked at Eliot and then gestured to the hand on his mouth. The child in Quentin was really tempted to lick El’s hand and see the reaction. Something in Q told him, it would be beautiful to see. 

Eliot slowly pulled his hand back and ran his fingers through his hair. Giving him an extra roguish look. Taking a deep breath he clasped his hands to stop the fidgeting. “You know that I’ve been counseling since the Monster. Well we have been working on facing my inner demons, and well I need to apologize to you.”

“Eliot, nothing that happened while you were possessed was because of you. I don’t blame you for that,” Quentin interrupted placing his right hand on Eliot’s knee giving it a gentle squeeze. 

“Right, which I appreciate but when I broke through his control that one time, I was able to do it by finding my darkest memory-the thing I regret the most. It was turning you down.” Holding his hand he prayed that Q wouldn’t interrupt him. When Q didn’t speak he continued. “I made a promise that if you freed me I would be braver.”

“Eliot-”

He was faster this time the hand smacking against Quentin’s face as he shook his head frantically. “Please let me finish please.”

Quentin narrowed his eyes and in a split second his reptile brain won out and he swiped his tongue across Eliot’s hand. Smiling triumphantly when Eliot recoiled in horror before breaking into laughter. As Eliot calmed down and Quentin stayed quiet Eliot pushed forward. 

“I wasn’t in a place where I felt that I was worth your love and support. I needed to get my head on straight before I could talk about this. Then you were dating that girl Jennifer, which was fine. I wasn’t emotionally or mentally available. But, I think that I could-no I am now. So could I take you on a date?”

Quentin had to swallow cause suddenly his mouth was filled with cotton balls. Grabbing the coffee he looked at Eliot as he chugged the beverage before choking cause shit it was hot. Pulling back to protect his work he spilled coffee all down the front of his shirt and jeans “FUCK.”

Eliot was already moving his fingers and the hot liquid was pulling from his clothes and returning to his to go cup. He started to reach out to check if Quentin was okay. Then stopped because they were having a hard conversation, and well his therapist had said that you give people their space during complex conversations. “Quentin.”

“You broke through to tell me Peaches and Plums by coming to terms with hurting me that day in Fillory?” Quentin asked, slow and steady looking at Eliot and then glancing around to check to see if this was a joke. 

“Yea. Because if I had been honest and true, then you would have known that I was scared and worried that outside of Fillory I couldn’t be that person. No one in the past had known any other version of me than the version I was with you. I was able to be a whole me gardening and pataes all at once.”

“But here you have a reputation and a persona?” Quentin asked, slowly trying to follow the thread that Eliot was going down. 

“Exactly, and I had a fairy hand up my arse, was worried about Margo & Fen, and just everything. Mostly though I was worried that you’d realize that I wasn’t good enough and leave.”

“Eliot, I am flattered, but are you sure?” Quentin was honestly not as sure this was actually happening. 

“I am more sure about this than when I told you I loved you in Fillory.” Eliot admitted, his voice shaking. “I wanted to be more than sure and in a better place.”

Quentin bit his lip and put his hand out for Eliot to take and took a deep breath. “If we do this, you can’t give up counseling. It’s important to work your program. We’ve both been through a lot of trauma and bullshit in the last five years. I still my counselor every day.”

“Okay.” Eliot said slowly, reaching out to take the offered hand. “Any other terms to us giving this a shot?”

“We don’t try to recreate our life at the mosaic, we create a life here and take it day by day.”

Quentin found himself reaching out with his free hand to pull Eliot gently into a kiss. Then surging out of his seat when Eliot returned it. Their lips warm and moving slowly like no time had passed since their last kiss. Quentin found himself wrapped in Eliot;s arms and straddling him in the chair. Pulling back his arms around Eliot’s neck while his fingers played with the beautiful curls. 

“You know I think that I can do that,” Eliot said, chuckling as he looked up into the beautiful hazel eyes of one Quentin Coldwater. 

“Good because I’m not letting you run from me Waugh.” 

“Oooh you like the chase--” Eliot chuckled into the kiss as Quentin shut him up by closing the gap between them. 

**Author's Note:**

> childoftimeandmagic on tumblr likes, kudos, comments, and reblogs with tags are what make this all worthwhile. Tell me why you enjoyed my work.


End file.
